Composite parts are being utilized in a wide variety of articles of manufacture due to their high strength and light weight. This is particularly true in the field of aircraft manufacturing. Typical materials used in the manufacture of composite components include glass or graphite fibers that are embedded in resins, such as phenolic, epoxy, and bismaleimide resins. The fiber and resin materials may be formed into a desired shape using a variety of different manufacturing systems and processes, and may then be cured (e.g. under elevated pressure and temperature conditions) to produce the desired component.
It will be appreciated that a wide variety of prior art apparatus and methods exist for forming composite components. For example, some conventional apparatus and methods of forming composite components include those methods generally disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,690 B1 issued to Pancorbo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,275 B1 issued to Holsinger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,269 issued to Younie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,535 issued to Burgess et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,475 issued to Mead et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,438 issued to Dublinski et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,949 issued to Leoni et al.
Although desirable results have been achieved using such prior art methods, there is room for improvement. For example, it is known that prior art processes for forming composite components may be susceptible to fiber deformation and wrinkles, particularly on bagside surfaces and along radii of the composite component. These undesirable artifacts of the conventional manufacturing process may increase manufacturing costs due to repair and rework of such composite components. Furthermore, uneven or non-smooth surfaces of the composite components may require complicated shimming during assembly, which may further increase manufacturing costs. Therefore, apparatus and methods for processing composite components that at least partially mitigate these effects would be useful.